Beloved

'Good, good!' the old man enthused. 'I ask nothing more of the gods but to see you safely married.' He fell back upon his pillows and was soon snoring lightly.

'Oh, Marcus,' Dagian whispered, 'when I think of the strong and virile man he was. And now-now he is so weak.' Dagian took her son by the hand, and led him from the room. 'Tell me what transpired between you and the emperor.'

'Aurelian is adamant that I marry his niece. He has threatened violence and destruction against this family if I do not. However, I shall leave the day after the wedding for Palmyra. I can stay no longer, and Father will die whether I am here or not. This is hardly something that I can tell Zenobia in a letter. Once Father has passed on; once my sisters are safe with their husbands; once you and Aulus are safely returned to Britain; then I shall divorce this Carissa and marry Zenobia.'

Dagian nodded slowly. His plan was sound, and although she could see that he was angry it was a contained anger. She could not understand Aurelian's immovable intent. Why did he so fervently desire Marcus for his niece? Surely there were other young men in Rome who could be brought into line, or even bought. Why Marcus?

She wondered again two days later after her eldest son had been married to Carissa. Because of her husband's illness the ceremony had been performed in her husband's bedchamber, and for a brief time Lucius Alexander exuded the power and the charm that had once been his. It was as if he had gathered all his strength for a final performance. He greeted the emperor heartily, and complimented the bride.

The Bride. Dagian gazed upon Aurelian's niece and marveled that any woman could be that perfect. Carissa was a girl of medium height with an oval face and two adorable dimples on either side of her rosebud mouth. Her skin was milk white, her cheeks were touched with rose. Her features were quite delicate for a girl of peasant background. Her small nose was straight, her black eyes round and fringed with thick, long gold eyelashes. Her forehead was not quite as high as one might have wished, but her small, square chin was also blessed with a dimple. The lovely head was crowned with thistledown hair, of the natural gold color that the women of Rome so desperately sought in their wigs.

Carissa had slim hands and feet; a reedlike waist; slender hips; and firm, high young breasts. She moved with complete grace, and her manners appeared excellent, for her voice was soft but clear, and she deferred to her uncle and her Aunt Ulpia. She had chosen white and silver as her wedding colors, and they suited her admirably.

Marcus glanced at the girl, his distaste obvious. The augurs were taken, and declared highly favorable. Dagian hid a smile. The soothsayer could have opened a lamb that was filled with writhing snakes and he would have found it favorable to this match. The ceremony was quickly over.

The emperor and the empress were quite jovial at the feast that followed. They and their friends ate and drank liberally. The bride was quite animated, chatting with all the guests. But not once did she speak to her husband, nor he to her.

The rest of the wedding customs were forgotten, and Marcus was glad, for this marriage was a mockery of everything he had ever been taught. Zenobia! He almost cried her name aloud in his anguish, and Dagian, seeing the spasm cross her son's face, reached out and squeezed his hand.

When it was no longer possible to prolong the festivities, the emperor and his wife stood, and both bride and groom escorted them to the door, bidding them a good night. Ulpia Severina wept matronly tears as she kissed the beautiful girl she had raised. 'Be happy, dear child,' she murmured, and with a maidenly sigh Car-issa assured her aunt that she would be. The emperor looked directly at Marcus, and said in a very public voice, 'I know that you will make my niece happy, Marcus Alexander.'

Marcus smiled broadly. 'You may be certain, Caesar, that I shall see that Carissa has everything she deserves,' he replied.

The emperor and the empress departed, and with them all of the other guests. Turning, Marcus looked at the beautiful girl who was now his wife.

'We will sleep in the atrium tonight,' he said. 'I see that the wedding couch is already there.'

'Very well,' she replied coldly, and walking over to it kicked off her sandals. 'Do you want me naked?'

'I don't want you at all, Carissa. Surely you know that I was forced into this marriage. That I am betrothed to another woman.'

'Whether you sleep with me or not, I do not care,' was her answer. 'The child will come anyway.'

'What?!' He felt a throbbing begin in his head.

'I am with child,' she said. 'It will be born in four months.' A small smile played about the corners of her mouth. 'You surely do not think I wished to marry you?' She laughed her tinkling, irritating laugh.

'Whose bastard do you carry? Why did you not marry him, or is he perhaps already married?'

'Yes, he is married. Unfortunately he could not divorce his dull wife to marry me, for it is forbidden that an uncle marry his niece. My child should be the next emperor of Rome after Aure-lian, his father, but it cannot be. Therefore it was necessary that I have the most patrician of husbands to give my child a name. Aurelian will eventually name our child his heir, for he has promised me that.'

'A worthless promise,' Marcus replied. 'Aurelian will be emperor for a few years if we are lucky, but eventually one of our power-mad generals will assassinate him and declare himself Augustus.'

'That is a possibility, of course,' she answered coolly, 'and that is why this child will be considered an Alexander. He will be safe if his real father should die before he is old enough to take command of the empire. My child will be safe until his time comes.'

'Since I have just arrived home, Carissa, there is no one who will believe the child mine.'

'It makes no difference. You are my husband now, and therefore my child will be legally yours, heir to this fine, old patrician family! You will never have a child of your own, Marcus Alexander, for I will never couple with you! Never! Nothing shall endanger my child's place in life!'

It was then he slapped her, his big hand flashing out to make contact with her smug, beautiful face. The red imprint of his long fingers crossed her smooth, white cheek. Carissa screamed with outrage, her high voice pealing throughout the entire house again and again until finally the room was filled with Dagian, Aulus, Lucia, and Eusebia, and numerous wide-eyed slaves.

Carissa, the shoulder of her tunic suddenly shredded, flung herself into Dagian's startled arms, weeping wildly. 'Oh, Mother Dagian, he tried to make me-make m-m-me-it was foul and unnatural! Nothing like what dearest Aunt Ulpia told me was expected of me on my wedding night.' Then she sobbed again, hiccoughing a few times for effect.

'Back to your quarters, all of you!' commanded old Castor, the Alexander major-domo, in an attempt to herd the slaves away from what was obviously a family dispute.

'Oh, no!' Marcus said loudly. 'Since my wife has started this thing publicly we will finish it publicly. You will all stay.' He turned to his mother. 'Don't bother attempting to comfort her, Mother. She is a consummate liar and a skilled actress as well as an obviously competent whore. My blushing bride has just told me that she is some months pregnant, and was married off to me to supply the child with a good name.'

'Aurelian will kill you for this!' Carissa hissed, suddenly in full control, her beautiful face contorted with fury.

'I would kill you,' Marcus replied, 'but instead I intend leaving Rome tonight. I will divorce you as soon as I reach Palmyra.'

'You will never divorce me!' she screamed at him. 'Aurelian will not let you divorce me!'

Marcus looked to his two sisters. 'Take her out of my sight!' he commanded them. 'Lock her in some room far away from the rest of the household where she cannot cause any trouble! I cannot bear the sight of the whore!'

Aided by two strong young slaves, Lucia and Eusebia did as their brother bid them, removing Carissa from the atrium as she screamed threats and curses at them in high fury.

'Now,' Marcus said, turning to old Castor, 'you may send the slaves to bed.'

'You should have let me tell him,' Aulus said to Dagian.

'Tell me what?' Marcus asked.

'I knew of Carissa's reputation, for though she and the emperor have been discreet, they have not been that discreet.'

'It would have made no difference,' Marcus replied. 'I went to the emperor, and was told if I did not marry her